Carry On
by meganinatardis
Summary: In the aftermath of "The Truth Hurts", Pete decides that HG should know that Myka is sick. Canon until S4.
1. Chapter 1

"Pete." Helena's crisp voice caused his head to snap up in the lobby. She rushed towards him, quickly invading his space. "Peter! How is she?" He forced himself not to look away, to look into her worried eyes. She took in the fact he look absolutely shattered, the dried tear marks down his cheeks, the ways that his eyes filled when she asked. She felt like she had been punched in the gut.

"No… no HG, Myka, Myka's ok." He said quickly, cracking a small smile that seemed wrong in on his sad face. "She has a ways to go, but she made it." Helena took Pete's arm leading him to the hard plastic chairs that adorned all hospital waiting rooms. She grabbed his chin in a maternal fashion forcing him to look at her.

"Then what is it?" She asked, even though every fibre of her being was screaming at her to find the woman she loved.

"I screwed up HG. Bad." She waited patiently for him to continue. He quickly filled her in with what they had been dealing with since they left her in Wisconsin, leaving out the fact that Myka's heart was broken and they hadn't made it more than a couple blocks before he had to pull over to wrap his arms around his crying partner. "I thought I could save her, I really did." He continued, taking a deep breath. "So that is how I let Paracelsus trick me." He waited for HG to start screaming, and when she didn't he went on. "Claudia had to take over as Caretaker, and fight him alone. We still don't know if she is ok or if Mrs F is going to ok, we are locked out of the Warehouse."

"Oh Pete."

"I know, I am an idiot. Claudia is the one person I would do anything to protect, and I put her life at risk because I am an idiot."

"You made a rather rash decision based on love. I have done far worse for far less noble reasons."

"You did it for love too, in a whacked out sort of way. And I refused to understand" HG ignored the guilt tinged comment and continued on.

"Claudia is strong and being Caretaker was her destiny long before she entered the Warehouse for the first time. She will make it through this, and if anyone understands tearing apart the world for the people she loves, it's her. I am absolutely sure that she not only forgive you but understand." HG grabbed his hands, her long slender fingers gripping tightly. "Now what do you say we go badger the doctors until they let us see our girl?" Pete nodded, immensely comforted by her words, but not so much he wasn't going to protect his partner. Instead of getting up to follow her, he pulled back on her hand, so that she would sit down.

"Helena." She gave him a confused look, he never used her full name. "First, thank you, I don't deserve your kindness." She was about to protest but he stopped her with his other hand. "But I need to know something." She nodded.

"Are you here just to check up on Myka and then run back to your white picket life in Wisconsin, because if you are, then I am not letting you see her and I am not going to let her know you came by." There was a trace of steel in his shaky voice, and just like him releasing a madman in hopes of saving Myka, she was utterly sure he would use his last breath trying to destroy her if she hurt Myka.

"I am back. I will have to on occasional assignments for the Regents, but my life in Wisconsin is over, my place is at the Warehouse."

"Did she ever tell you about Sam?" She blinked at his non-sequitur.

"He was her partner in the Secret Service. I know that he died, but she would never talk much about it."

"Sam was also her lover, her first love. She was much more impulsive before he got killed. She trusted her gut. And then he died, and she believed it was her fault. She was still dealing with that when she came to the Warehouse. The guilt was consuming her as she was mourning him. When you were still locked inside the hologram thingy, we found out he died because of an artifact. We stopped the guy who was using it and I think Myka was able to gain some closure, even though it made it seem like the Warehouse had been controlling our lives from the start" She was looking at him, trying to discern why this new story about her love was relevant, even as she was filing it away. "Myka didn't love after anyone after him, didn't let herself anything but fleeting crushes. Except you. I think she believed that after you were free from the hologram, free to make your own decisions, that you two would find each other."

"Oh God." Helena muttered, fingering her locket.

"Yeah, so showing up and seeing your perfect little life that you chose crushed her. She was so shattered when we got back, I didn't immediately catch onto the fact she was sick, because there was always this lingering sadness. If you are here, it better not be just for the Warehouse. Or even mostly for the Warehouse. You better be here because you love her."

"I do Pete." His eyes lit up and she was sure that if he wasn't worried about Myka, Claudia, Mrs. Frederic and the fate of the world, that he would probably be making obnoxious kissing noises or something similar.

"Okay then. I am going to go see her first." There was that firmness again, he was not going to risk Myka feeling any heartache on top of being sick. Despite the fact that things were falling apart, Helena felt a peace. She was back where she belonged, and she was going to get the woman she loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer/Notes: This doesn't belong to me. I think it belongs to NBC Universal. Also, in my head, I think that Pete would be a big HG/Myka shipper...

Pete opened the door quietly to his partners room. The doctors said she may still be sleeping off the anesthesia. Myka had apparently arranged all of this without telling him, passing this off as just her having to go in over some pain she had been having. He should have picked up on the fact she didn't eat or drink anything during the day, but they were so busy that even he had barely eaten a thing. The doctor said that everything went well, that they did a hysterectomy and that it should be all of it, and that it would take sometime for her bladder to recover, but she should probably only have to go through one or two rounds chemo to make sure they got it all.

Myka was so pale that she blended into the sheets, her hair wild and crazy was the only thing standing out against the stark white sheets. She looked so little like the woman he knew could kick his ass. Pete pulled up a chair and took the hand without the IV in it, in between his and waited. He was grateful to hear from Artie during the wait that Claudia had beaten Paracelsus without any of their help, bronzed him, transferred Caretaker back to Mrs F (for now), and was resting with Dr Calder looking over her, apparently her energy got pretty badly zapped at some point. Pete was sure when he got HG in here to look after Myka he was going to go hug Claudia and never let her go.

Pete had fallen asleep at some point, the stress of everything finally hitting him. His head was propped on Myka's thigh, and he was still holding onto her hand. He woke up to Myka playing with his hair with her other hand, her voice raspy. "Pete"

He quickly shot up. "Myka, you're awake" He beamed, getting up as quickly as he could and kissing her on the forehead, tripping sleepily a couple times along the way, causing Myka to let out a raspy laugh. After all the doctors had come in and out, and Myka had some water, Pete sat down to explain about Claudia and the diagnosis from the doctor. He expected anger from Myka, almost wanted it. Instead, she just let out a poor imitation of the frustrated way she normally said her name.

"Pete. You were tricked. I understand. And Claudia, our girl? She's strong. Paracelsus never stood a chance." Pete cracked a smile at that. He pushed away a curl that had fallen on Myka's face and cupped her cheek.

"God Mykes"

"I'm going to be okay Pete and so is Claud" She said, her voice shaking. Pete gently hugged her, kissing her forehead once again.

"I love you Mykes. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you."

"I know, you're such a sap." He leaned back and shot her a very faux hurt look. "But I love you too Pete."

"There is one more thing… and I am going to go stand over here," He awkwardly gestured to the corner of the room under the television, running a hand through his hair "so that you can't hit me."

"Pete." She said, drawing out his name nervously.

"I just thought, she probably should know, you know?" He babbled quickly, Myka raising an eyebrow at him.

"I called HG. She's here."

"Pete! She has a life, a life that very obviously does not include the Warehouse, or me, or my sickness." She said, running out of breath quickly, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh Myka." He made his way back to the bed, grabbing the hand that didn't have the IV in it once again.

"She's coming back. To the Warehouse, to you. And trust me, I had a really good vibe when I was talking to her. I will send her away if you want me to though." The steel was back in his voice, no one was going to hurt his best friend, his sister.

"No...no, I… I want to see her" She said, sucking her bottom lip in. Pete beamed at her, practically dancing in place. Myka smiled, just a little, at his antics. He came up to her, pressing his forehead to hers.

"You are going to get through this Mykes, I know it." He grasped her hand firmly.

"I know."

"All right then, I am going to go tell your woman that it is okay to come in now"


	3. Chapter 3

Pete exited Myka's room, feeling better than he had in days. His best friend was going to survive, Claudia was okay, and the world had been saved once again. He went to find HG. She was sitting on one the chairs, nervously drinking her tea, looking elegant and out of place in the dim, yellow light.

"HG" He said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You can go see her now." He gave her a soft smile. She searched his eyes.

"I told her, she wants to see you." He confirmed. There was a small part of him that was worried, Myka was really sick, and he saw the result of an HG Wells that was overcome with grief, but mostly, his vibes were good. HG rose slowly, looking for a bin. Pete grabbed the cup from her and kissing her on the forehead, startling the woman. He clasped her hand.

"She's happier when you're around. Just… just don't leave again, ok?" She smiled at him.

"I give you my word."

"Okay, I am going to go check up on Claudia, and see if we can arrange with Vanessa to get Myka out of this place. You go be with your girl."

After her quick conversation with Pete, Helena braced herself outside of Myka's door. She took several deep breaths and stepped inside. She tried not to be alarmed by how sick Myka looked, and the all the noise from the machines. Myka's eyes met hers almost instantly.

"Hi" She said lamely, and seeing HG Wells, the father of science fiction, being so awkward caused a ghost of a smile to come to Myka's lips.

"Hello." Myka replied, her voice hoarse. Helena forced herself to go closer to her. She searched Myka's eyes for permission before sitting next to her on the bed.

"Pete tells me you are back." Myka said and she looked so much like an expectant child, it made Helena's heart ache, and kick herself for thinking that Myka was better off without her.

"I am."

"For good?"

"For you." Helena leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss that was full of promises of what was to come.

W13W13W13W13W13W13W13W13W13

Pete rushed back to the Inn, leaving Myka with instructions to call him if she needed anything at all. As soon as he was out of the car his feet broke out into a run, and he continued this way right through the Inn before Artie grumpily told him to slow down. He also noticed Vanessa standing next to him and had to hold back a smile at how they looked like nothing the last year had happened.

"How is Claud?" He asked, out of breath.

"She's awake now. Steve is with her. How is Myka?" Artie said in his gruff manner, but he could see that he was really worried about both Myka and Claudia, and a little hurt that Myka hadn't come to him.

"She's awake. They think they got it all with the surgery, and she should only need a couple rounds of chemo to make sure they got it all."

"That's good." He said, and Vanessa slipped her hand into his.

"I will work on preparing a room for Myka here. There is no reason that she shouldn't be able to be at home for treatments and recovery."

"Thanks Dr V. I am going to go see Claud." He was practically bouncing in place. He clutched Artie's arm for a moment before heading to Claudia's room.

Steve was sitting on the bed next to Claudia, an arm wrapped around her, and she was propped up by a bunch of pillows. Something she had said had just made Steve bark out a laugh, and it didn't take anyone particularly intuitive to notice that Steve was barely holding it together, the relief of his best friend being okay overwhelming his general calm nature. Pete could relate.

Steve made eye contact with Pete, where he was hovering in the doorway. He leaned over and kissed Claudia's cheek. "I'm going to go pick up your brother from the airport and Pete's mom." Pete was about to make some comment about his mom coming but decided he would see if it was business or social, or both. Their lives were so intersected and he could really use his mom no matter what brought her to South Dakota.

Steve left, and Pete was still had his feet rooted in place near the door.

"Dude, you're kind of freaking me out." Claudia said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I'm so sorry Claud."

"Pete, if I had known Myka was sick, I would have been trying out every single artifact we had. I would have broken rules. I get it, ok?" Pete came to sit on the corner of her bed, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Do you have some new freaky Caretaker powers or something?"

"I am not going to be popping up behind you all stealth like, if that's what you mean. I know because good ole Parry told me before I bronzed his crazy ass."

"You're a hero Claudia." She shrugged before she was suddenly grabbed into a massive Pete hug. "Even if you understand, I still want to say sorry. You were left cleaning up my mess, having to save the Warehouse and the world, so thank you." Claudia was about to say something to dispute what Pete just said, but instead she just smiled. She knew what was ahead of her, and was at peace with her destiny.


	4. Chapter 4

Claudia fell asleep shortly after they finished talking. Pete got up and wandered around the first floor of the B&B, nervous energy not allowing him to sit still. He saw Artie and Vanessa whispering on the couch and decided that wasn't something he wanted to crash. He came back into the hallway as Joshua, Steve and his mom entered. He started to say hello as his mom rushed him into a hug.

"It's going to be okay Peter." She whispered in his ear, then kissing his cheek before releasing him. Steve and Josh stood awkwardly in the doorway, blocked by the Lattimers.

"Is Claudia in her room?" Joshua asked. He glanced at Pete and gave him a small smile instead of saying hi, because all he wanted to do was see his sister. Steve nodded from beside him, as Jane and Pete stepped aside.

"Yeah, I'll show you." Steve said, raising his arm to guide Josh before changing his mind and letting it fall to his side. Pete smirked to himself.

"So what brings you to Univille?" Pete asks, shoving his hands in his pockets. He didn't really need his vibes to say it wasn't for him.

"I need to speak with Claudia...and there is something else. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Pete glanced back to Vanessa and Artie in the living room. "Let's go to the patio." He said nervously.

"I am also here about HG Wells." She said once they were seated. Pete leaned forward.

"Why?" He said, much the way he had said all the times he had pushed his boundaries as a teenager, the why that was going to push her logic, because he didn't agree with it.

"Myka is very sick." Pete winced at that. "We have seen the way HG has responded to grief in the past."

Pete got up, anger pulsing through his veins. "No Mom. No. You guys aren't taking her away from Myka. Not again. When she thought HG chose that white picket fantasy over her, she was crushed. I thought you had all decided that HG was fine, that's why she was allowed to go live her life in the middle of no where, why she was allowed to assist us when Artie went more cuckoo than her."

"Peter, please let me-"

"No! Do you really think HG will react better if she is kept apart from Myka and then finds out she died? And you can't just shove her back in a coin, not after all she has done." Pete is pacing back and forth, running his hand through his hair.

"Peter." Her voice is firm, and he knows he needs to shut up. "I told you to let me finish, now sit down." He does as he is told.

"There are no plans to use the Janus Coin again or separate HG Wells from the Warehouse or Myka. We are reinstating her, but you have to understand, we need to keep an eye on her. The grief of losing her child drove her to the point she thought it was better to destroy the world. We can't let that happen again."

"What do you want to do?"

"I asked that I be the one to talk with you all about it. As Guardian, I can tell when there is a threat to the Warehouse, and I don't feel she is one at this time. However, to be fully reinstated, she will be required to have weekly meetings with Abigail to ensure her mental well being."

"So she gets to stay?" There is a small smile on his face. It reminds her of the time he flew to see her, just to tell her had been sober for one month. A smile of hope.

"Yes." She said smiling warmly at her son. She always cared for her agents, but this particular team she had grown attached too, perhaps because they worked so closely with her son. Pete barrelled into her for a hug, and she felt a familiar pang of guilt, that she had not been there so much when he needed her, had retreated into her responsibilities for the Warehouse after her husband died. Jeannie was older, so she handled it better, but she knew that it had damaged her son. Only his own resilience had allowed him to become the brave, caring man that had his arms wrapped around her.

"Myka is lucky to have a friend like you." Pete just backed up and grinned. 


End file.
